Volunteer firefighter charged with fifteen fires

A 30-year-old volunteer firefighter was indicted on Friday for attempting to start fifteen fires in Vaucluse between September 2021 and summer 2024, announced the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur gendarmerie and the Avignon prosecutor’s office.

The man was charged with twelve forest fires and three property fires in the Lubéron, a very touristy area in the south of the department, the oldest dating back to September 2021 but most of them having been committed during the summer of 2024, the prosecution told AFP.

Pre-trial detention

“Placed in police custody on Wednesday, September 11, and in the face of the evidence gathered during the investigation, the accused admitted to being the author of several fires.”the gendarmerie said in a statement. This man, a “craftsman from Cadenet” in Vaucluse, and a volunteer firefighter according to the prosecution, was not known to the gendarmerie services. He was placed in provisional detention.

The South-East of France is a region historically very affected by major fires, particularly due to its dry climate in summer; according to the French Forest Observatory, 90% of forest fires are of human origin in metropolitan France, including 30% arson. In France, the intentional burning of property is an offence with penalties of up to ten years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros, and the intentional burning of natural areas is recognised as a crime, with penalties of up to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.